Blog If You Love Learning: An Introduction to Weblogs in Education

(Or, Practical Blogging)

CLMS/CLHS/NHSA and CUE Technology Conference

November 18, 2006

The session agenda/notes are provided below. Please feel free to add to these resources by clicking on "Edit This Page" above.

Handout

Live Demonstration

• What is a blog?
• What is the read/write web?
• What do these things mean for you and your students?

The Read-Only Web

• Powerful resource for educators and students, but…
• Information moves from publishers to consumers
• Information cannot be edited
• One-Way Web (Web 1.0)

The Read/Write Web

• It is now as easy to create as it is to consume.
• Anyone can publish, share, and change information
• Two-Way Web (Web 2.0)
• This is changing our world!

Blogs

• Web + Log = weblog, or “we blog”
• Easily created
• Easily updated
• If you can email, you can blog.
• Blogs allow visitors to comment.

Educational Blogs

• Teacher web sites
• Class web sites
• Learning journals
• Book Clubs
• Connect with Authors and Experts
• Pen pals
• Professional Development
• Reflective Practice
• http://www.edublogs.org (Free Blogs for Teachers!)

Engagement and Motivation

• Digital Natives already enjoy these technologies
• Interactive and responsive
• Personalized
• Appeal to multiple learning styles

Context

• Students access, process, and create
• Authentic Purpose
• Authentic Audience
• It’s about content and communication - not the technology

Inquiry

• Students discover, explore, and contribute
• Authentic problems
• Individualized
• Empowering

Collaboration

• Students connect with peers and experts
• Interpersonal skills
• Tools of the 21st Century workplace
• Results oriented

Reflection

• Students consume, consider, and compose
• Writing is learning
• So is creating and editing other media
• Metacognition
• Reflective Practice
• And Feedback!

Information Literacy

• Relevance?
• Source?
• Agenda or bias?
• Fact Checking
• Trusted Sources

Inappropriate Content

• Offensive, sexual, or violent content
• Due Diligence
• Increasingly difficult to filter
• Appropriate responses to the inevitable

Inappropriate Sharing

• Students may post:
  • Inappropriately
  • Unsafely
  • Irresponsibly
  • Provocatively
  • Illicit or illegal behavior
• Students will post outside of school!

Threats and Cyber-bullying

• Students may post threats
• Threats that impact attendance or academics are a school concern
• Credible threats may be a criminal matter

Free Speech Concerns

• Students do have 1st Amendment Rights
• Parody is protected
• We cannot control students, we can educate them

Intellectual Property

• Academic Honesty
• Copyright Law
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
• Alternative licenses

Fraud and Identity Theft

• Students may put their families and friends at risk
• Students are at risk
• Fraud
• Theft
• Identity Theft

Stalkers and Predators

• Most serious consequence of inappropriate sharing
• Predators do hunt children through online social networks
• Students can protect themselves

Another Perspective

• Citizen Journalism
• Citizen Police Work
• Threats, suicides, and risky behavior are often reported
• Sting operations catch criminals
• “My space is safer for teens than predators.”

Lack of Understanding

• Fear of the Unknown
• Some adults vilify technologies with many benefits
• Deleting Online Predators’ Act 2006
• Potential for rebellion and destruction of trust

Proactive Strategies

Legal Protections

• Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
  • Filtering, Monitoring, & Policies
• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
  • Policies, Parental Consent, Protection of Info
• Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
  • Stiff Penalties for Offenders, National Registry

Safety Tips for Students

• Do not share identifying information.
• Do not share personal information.
• Do not share provocative images.
• Beware of grooming.
• Consider the consequences and the future.
• Talk with parents, teachers, or other trusted adults.

Safety Tips for Parents

• Move computers into shared spaces & make monitors visible
• Watch for Alt+Tab (or Alt+F4)
• Check history (is it suspiciously blank?)
• Beware a reluctance to be candid

What else can teachers do?

• Communicate with students
• Communicate with other educators
• Communicate with IT
• Communicate with the police
• Confront students who are behaving in irresponsible, inappropriate, or unsafe ways. Do not look the other way.

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Reflection

• How can you use blogs in your role as an educator?
• How might your students use blogs as part of their education?
• What are your next steps?

Online Evaluation

Learn more about blogs in education:

www.weblogg-ed.com - Will Richardson’s blog
www.davidwarlick.com/2cents/ - David Warlick’s blog
http://anne.teachesme.com/ - Anne Davis’ blog
www.speedofcreativity.com - Wes Freyer’s blog
www.supportblogging.com - A Wiki about blogs in education
www.mabryonline.org - A great example of a blogging school!